Seeing David Double

In his third volume of collected essays, the former Professor of Hebrew Bible at Edinburgh University assembles studies published since 2017. With one significant modification (on the first Jeroboam), they develop the twin theses of his 2017 monograph, Life in Kings: that the material common to the books of Samuel-Kings and Chronicles is both untypical of Samuel-Kings as a whole and the major source out of which they developed. Most importantly, these fresh essays explore the DNA of what Graeme Auld calls the Book of Two Houses (BoTH): some 150 uniquely paired words (including names) and phrases that occur in its reports of only two kings. The final extended essay (not previously published) sets these pairings in their context throughout the book. As the artistry of this foundational text is revealed, fresh historical questions call for answers.